Still Dark

7:06

7:23

7:50

I have been up since 5:50 and am sitting here at 6:40 in darkness, not a hint of light out over the lake.  It did not freeze last night despite the warnings.  It is cold, however, 37º, and when I walked outside, I could make out a star-filled sky so it should be a cold but sunny day.  It's 9:15 and I have just returned from breakfast in Bemus Point with the guys, in time to finish the blog before yoga.

Bemus Point Ferry Returns

Yesterday was a strange day for us, filled with others being busy.  I was able to get in a quick paddle before the rains came and before the cable guy was supposed to come.  We got a call, however, at 8:00 saying he would not arrive until 11:00 so I cut my paddle short for no reason.  I drove off to Lakewood at 9:30, after helping our neighbors clean out their refrigerator before they left for home and we were the recipients of lots of goodies.  The class was fine, six of us, not just me so I was happy to have fellow participants.

I came straight home since we were having leftover chicken for dinner and found the house a mess.  Our handyman, Austin, was busy, painting our pantry doors, on sawhorses in the living room.  And was also doing a number of odd jobs that Evie wanted to be done before winter arrives.  He's a neat kid, works hard and fast, cleans up well, and was done by 3:00.  Earlier, Evie had met the cable guy who set up our cable TV, making sure we were able to get all the channels, as well as a few on our Apple TV when we want.  It's good to be back in the Spectrum saddle and our bill is half what it was four months ago.

After Austin and I had lunch, Turkish soup and eggplant BLT's, Cory, our plumber drove up to do a check on our boiler, making sure it was clean and working well for the winter.  He checked out all four zones, making sure they were working and put in new digital programmable thermostats, something we probably did not need.  Hey, they were on sale and how could I pass them up.  Around 1:00, we said goodbye to Bill and Joyce and once more, we are the only ones down at this end of Woodlawn.  It seems strange.

After all the hubbub, it was peaceful to have the house back to ourselves.  Evie was exhausted from having to stand and work around all the busyness which was understandable.  So we both collapsed on couches around 4:00 and watched some afternoon TV, something we rarely do.  Around 5:00, I went outside and started to clear a few things off our dock because we thought the boys might be coming by late afternoon to take in the docks.

We relaxed from the day with a glass of wine, pretzels, chips, and dips, and watched the boys struggle to bring in our neighbor Joe's dock, finishing only when it was dark.  It was cold, windy, and gray and did not look like much fun and bringing in the boatlifts as they were a real struggle for them.

We had the previous nights leftover chicken with rice, a salad, a glass of wine and were happy to be back on cable, no shortages or blackouts, easy to surf the channels.  We watched a new film on Netflix called THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER.  I would give it a B-, the story of a kindergarten teacher's obsession with her gifted student.  We ended the night with a laugh, as Stephen Colbert is back from a week's vacation.

A Bit Of Nostalgia:

With My Sisters, Ellen and Linda, 1954?